Get ready for an open-air fiesta.
Alongside the City of Melbourne, the Melbourne Food And Wine Festival organisers are putting on an end of year celebration unlike we’ve ever seen in our own city. (Featured image: @freedomstudios)
Up to 50 Melbourne restaurants and bars will be taking over city streets and setting up tables and chairs for a foodie fiesta reminiscent of your time in southern Europe than anywhere else. And with the annual fireworks display cancelled, this is as good a reason to come into the city for a New Year’s celebration as any. Except for maybe free parking up until 3 January, we quite like that idea as well. Except, that ain’t no party.
Eleven dining hubs will be created around the city, from the Paris end of Little Collins Street to Hardware Lane and a number of streets in between. At each dining hub, a number of eateries and bars will contribute to the extravaganza where you, your family and your mates, will be able to get together to eat and drink the night away. Or, you could start the new year by eating and drinking at some of Melbourne’s most prized establishments. That’s up to you to decide too.
Little Bourke Street
Including Punch Lane, Liverpool Street and Crossley Street, this dining precinct has a mix of Melbourne hospo veterans, a reboot of a longtime favourite, and plenty of fire and spice to make sure your New Year’s celebrations are bang on.
2. Bar Saracen
3. Bamboo House
5. RuYi
6. Pellegrini’s
7. Longrain
8. Becco
9. Gingerboy
10. Daughter in Law
Little Collins Street
Sometimes a visit to the CBD can feel like a foodie adventure around the world. At the dining hub on Little Collins Street, which includes Meyers Place, you could be in Argentina, Italy, Portugal or South-East Asia. But one of these is not like the others, and includes a countdown party.
11. Bar Lourinhã
12. Lupino
13. San Telmo
14. Sunda
AC/DC Lane
Get lost amongst the graffitied walls and find your seat at one of these Melbourne heavyweights.
17. Lee Ho Fook
18. Chin Chin
19. Philippe
20. Pastuso
Market Lane
Dim sum to cure a New Year’s Eve hangover? Yes, please.
21. HuTong
22. Flower Drum
Spring Street
Do you go all out on New Year’s Eve and celebrate like it’s 1999 or do you prefer to take it a little easier this year? Well, whatever you decide, fancy or casual, Spring Street has got you covered.
23. Fonda
24. Hihou
25. Cecconi’s
26. Cumulus Inc.
Flinders Lane
Will your New Year’s be super?
27. Gimlet
28. Supernormal
29. Hazel
30. Dessous
Lonsdale Street
Who hasn’t spent a night out on Lonsdale Street?
31. Bar Margaux
32. Bomba
33. Seamstress
Domain Road
Do what Domain Road restaurants ever disappoint?
34. Botanical: New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day
35. Entrecôte
36. Matilda
Docklands
So maybe not the CBD, but Docklands has got some pretty special parties lined up.
37. Berth: New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day
38. Cargo: New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day
Hardware Lane
Not just one of Melbourne’s best alfresco dining streets, but possibly one of Australia’s best. Ring in the New Year here like nowhere else.
39. Tipo 00
42. +39 Pizzeria
43. Palermo
44. Miznon
45. Osteria Ilaria
Russell Street
It’s not often you’ll see Italian and Armenian cuisine side by side, but in Melbourne, it’s a thing.